PS 3537 
•P15 L3 
1904 
Copy l 






• 



LAKE KEUKA 

WRITTEN BY 

Z. A. SPACE, 

KEUKA PARK, N. Y. 



Dedicated to 
HELEN MILLER SPACE. 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

APR 13 1904 

(] Copyright Entry 
CLASG; 0- XXlc. No. 
COPY B 






Copyright, 1904, by 
Z. A. SPACE. 



N 



LAKE KEUKA. 

Hail, Keuka ! Thy bewitching grace 
Hath often charmed me ; 
Spellbound I've watched thee by the hour 
Unconscious of thy power to bind 
In perfect reverie of thought, 
A soul that loves thee. 

On thy smooth surface I've been wont to row 
And angle for the finny tribe below ; 
Care free, restful, with a west wind sign, 
And trolling out two hundred feet of Hue, 
A sal monoid, charmed with the prospect of a meal, 
3 



Strikes at the lively bait and turns the reel ; 
Startles the fisherman, who swings the boat about 
And feels that thrill of thrills, a 6 lb. trout. 
Shakespeare and Milton both combined 
Could not have sent a message to the mind, 
Conveying half the inspiration 
Of that mysterious, sudden, sure, vibration. 
Thy contour, depth, and even beach 
Spurs the imagination beyond its natural reach ; 
And when we add to this thy vineyards, groves, and glens, 
We multiply thy loveliness by tens. 
The resting cottager with boat and sail 
Skims o'er thy waves before the rising gale ; 
5 



Then in the calm of evening's twilight hour 
The outing song is heard from leafy bower, 
Or, coming o'er the surface from afar, 
Another message picked from a guitar, 
Or mandolin, tells volumes of a future, 
Which in those interesting hours intense 
Seems like an undue period of suspense. 
'Twas even so in far off days of yore, 
At least so says our Indian legendary lore ; 
Here in the primal forest's shade, 
In birch canoe, basking on thy fair bosom, 
Seneca's proud progeny had read from out thy depths 
The same unspoken story of their destiny. 

6 



Thy colder season when the frost king reigns 
Another round of pleasure then obtains ; 
Ivocked in the embrace of Winter's stern decree, 
The ice-boat and the skating party's glee 
Are but reminders of the valued rules 
Which loving parents make, and rest them 
On the laws of give and take. In metals, 
Contraction and expansion, I am told, 
Do not adjust themselves to heat and cold ; 
Their inert power must be supervised, 
Then only can their worth be utilized. 
No doubt 'tis true that the same rules, 
With all their variations, 



Are needed in domestic applications. 
In youth, when Nature's fires glow warm and bright, 
Some inuocent swerving from the line of right 
May indicate an obedience which is better 
Than always executing to the letter. 
Though manhood ne'er forgets the limitations 
As marked by more experienced observations. 
Thy magic power ! How it hath drawn 
Horticulturist, philanthropist, and scholar here to fawn 
O'er thy attractions, until each, in his particular sphere, 
Lauds thee for having called him here. 

Many have been the battles thou hast fought with Jack Frost, 
Driving him backward to the " heights and howe's," 
8 



While the farmer in his nightly vigil knows 

Thy influence, and the power that makes thee victor. 

The College, with its attendant acquisitions, 

Expresses fully, without written definitions, 

The fact of its location. 

The hand of God made these ravines, and slopes, the very clay, 

For just the purposes that they're used to-day. 

Those classic walls, richest of thy dower, 

The best of all exemplifies thy power. 

Once more I hail thee ! Thou life and leaven, 
Agency of God to fit the soul for Heaven. 



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